HF: Japanese Occupation 1941-1945 Hong Kong surrendered to Japan on 25 December 1941, marking the start of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. Postal services resumed in early 1942, with 20 or 21 Japanese definitives introduced for use in Hong Kong. As a response to hyperinflation during the occupation, three stamp issues were surcharged with a higher value. These were […]
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HF: The following notes are an attempt to order chronologically events in AH Rennie’s life mentioned on data cards from the Carl Smith collection held at the HK Public Records Office. I have attempted below to include all references to Rennie in these cards, as recorded by Carl Smith, and which are hand written or typed. However, they are sometimes […]
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York Lo: Lee Lim Ming (李琳明): King of Metal Pins and Badges Left: Ming Sang Industrial Building; right: a Lee Lim Ming pin for the Royal HK Regiment Founded in 1939 and incorporated in 1963, Lee Lim Ming Metal Works (李琳明金屬製造廠) has been making metal pins and badges for large companies (such as Maxim’s, KFC franchise operator Birdland, Cathay Pacific), government […]
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IDJ: The book Hong Kong Bank-The building of Norman Foster’s masterpiece by Stephanie Williams-1989 is the book to have for the whole process-concept to completion. HF: I cannot find an online version of this so for the time being we will have to make do with the following images IDJ has kindly sent.(1) The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) […]
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HF: The death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and the reign of King Edward V11 saw the release of a new series of definitives, commonly referred to as the ”bald man”’s definitives by local philatelists and stamp collectors. The first set (1903) of stamps featuring Edward V11 consisted of 15 stamps. A second set (1904) was printed on different paper, […]
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IDJ has supplied the following article from a volume of “Wonders of World Engineering” edited by Clarence Winchester published in a 1938 or 39 edition. This goes into considerable detail about water supply problems in Hong Kong at that time especially on Hong Kong island, the resultant surveys undertaken to find a suitable location for a large reservoir. The selection of the […]
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York Lo: Faithful Trading and Polytek Engineering Industrial trading and engineering firms such as China Engineers, Reiss Bradley and Andersen Meyer covered earlier in other articles played an important role in the industrial development of Hong Kong and the broader region as they facilitated the necessary technology transfer from the West by acting as importers and installers of state of the […]
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York Lo: Tacksen Shuihing Godown (德成瑞興貨倉) Left: Yan Chi-kit (HK Album, 1967); Right: signage of the Tacksen godown at 37A South Bay Road in Repulse Bay from a scene of an old movie (YouTube) Tacksen Shuihing Godown Co Ltd was one of the leading Chinese operators of godowns in the 1950s and 1960s. At its peak, the firm operated 3 […]
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Tymon Mellor: At the end of the Second World War, the returning British forces found a Japanese radar station on the top of Tai Mo Shan. This discovery highlighted the technical strength of the Japanese military. The theory behind radar had been established in the 1920’s with developments in Britain, US, USSR and Japan. However, whereas the British and Americans military […]
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HF: This article was written by Stewart Clyde in the early 1960s. 1963 is mentioned at one point. On the title page is hand written “updated 30.4.64” though the article itself is undated. It comes courtesy of the Public Records Office, HK. I can find nothing further about Mr Clyde, why he wrote this article or where it originally appeared. […]
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